I’m turning 23 next week, and it was only about eight years ago when I saw a significant change in my life. Thank goodness, too.
I used to be a feminist.
Most people who know me personally would be pretty shocked. Now, I call myself anti-feminist when only a short time ago I was that girl who thought every man was a chauvinist who couldn’t respect women and their rights. I thought men wanted it to be like how it was in “the good ol days,” when women were in the kitchen and they were bringing home the bacon. I was that someone who deplored even the thought of changing my last name when I got married: “I’m not his property!”
Of course we’re not their property. This isn’t the 1800s. But in high school, I didn’t understand how the real world worked. I’d been indoctrinated from the time I moved to the States while the Bush v Gore election rolled on:
“Mom, what’s a Democrat?”
My liberal, Italian mother replied, “Someone who likes new ideas and adopting new ways of dealing with problems.”
Who doesn’t want to promote new ideas and acceptance? Loser Republicans, that’s whom! There it was: my feminism was born.
As years rolled by, I had discussions with my friends about women’s roles in society, as early as middle school. I’d heard things my mom and dad told me, (“be yourself!” “you can do anything you put your mind to!” “you’re beautiful; don’t listen to others who bully you”) and I’d transformed them into feminism talking points before I even understood what that meant.
I didn’t need makeup to feel beautiful, I shouldn’t have to be thin to impress boys, I definitely didn’t need to look perfect to feel good about myself, and I could go to college to be whatever I wanted to be. #feminism!
But in high school, I started to understand things a little more. During the 2008 presidential campaigns, I was too young to vote, but I was very into the process. I tried discussing the Obama and Clinton campaigns with my peers, most of whom couldn’t care less (and probably still don’t), but before he became the nominee, I was obsessed with the Clinton campaign. A female president? Hell yeah! It’s about time a female gets in that White House! I even called my best friend sexist for not supporting Clinton.
As I started watching the news, however, things changed for me. I wasn’t listening to my teachers anymore, and things my parents said weren’t clouded by my own irrational opinions. Instead of talking, for the first time in my life, I listened.
It was weird; hearing so much information that I’d never known about Clinton and Obama was hard for me. These weren’t the progressive idols I thought they were. Clinton wasn’t the feminist icon I’d loved and defended. She was the woman who defended rapists (including child rapist Thomas Taylor) and made fun of their victims. They didn’t support gay marriage. Clinton had affiliations in the past that brought forward questions about racism.
What the hell was wrong with this woman I thought was my candidate? Was this feminism? Progressivism? I didn’t want any part of it.
Oxford’s definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Thanks Oxford, but today, that isn’t the case. Women already have equal rights across the board.
Women already, by law, make the same amount a man would in the same position. However, the government and media claim women make $0.78 per dollar a man makes “on average.” But they don’t tell you this “average” involves ALL jobs performed by both sexes. Feminist professor and writer Christina Hoff Sommers explained it well in her article “Feminist Myths That Will Not Die”: “The bottom line: the 23-cent gender pay gap is simply the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working full-time. It does not account for differences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure or hours worked per week. When such relevant factors are considered, the wage gap narrows to the point of vanishing.”
Hoff links to a report from the US Department of Labor (the same government telling you there’s a gap) that states that “Women, especially working mothers, tend to value “family friendly” workplace policies more than men” and that “A greater percentage of women than men tend to work part-time. Part-time work tends to pay less than full-time work.” While more women work as teachers or office assistants, more men work in construction or off-shore.
While reading about the issue of “equal rights” on Debate.org, I read that most women don’t think they have equal rights because of the supposed pay gap. So the pay gap that doesn’t exist is the main concern for equal rights? There goes that feminist argument.
While perusing through the misinformation, I see an interesting comment: “women are the favoured gender in this society through affirmative action and discrimination against men.” In my Human Resources and Businesses classes, I’ve found this to be accurate. Civil Rights laws protect “minorities and women.” The Equal Opportunity Commission works to force businesses to hire a certain number of women depending on how large the organization is, regardless of qualifications. These quotas, however, only harm the company; employees who see gender quotas are less likely to apply for a job there, because both men and women see they place a higher importance on gender than merit.
Not only do women have the same rights as men, but they often have even more. They get more opportunities for higher education and scholarships (how many men do you know who won a male-only scholarship?), and they have better chances to make up a workforce.
So if equal rights is what the feminists want, and we’ve already got it, what the hell is the point of feminism?
To answer this question, modern feminism (or some may call it third wave feminism) is about diminishing masculinity. If a woman claims rape, not only is she to be automatically believed, the accused is to have his life destroyed, and if it’s discovered that she made everything up, it’s sexist to hold her accountable. If women believe they should hold 50% or more of leadership positions, they should, merit be damned. But when the question of actual oppression in other countries comes up, feminists remain quiet.
Modern feminism is about not shaving, #freeingthenipple, and a gender gap that doesn’t exist. It’s about caricatures of non-traditional females such as hairy underarms and big ugly glasses. It’s about voting for a woman for pubic office solely on the grounds that she is a woman. It’s about calling an overweight woman “brave” because they aren’t the ideal of beauty but can still manage to take off their clothes.
Modern feminism is sexist BS.
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